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Sustaining and Supporting Principals: Implications of CCOSA Principal Survey 2020 Glen Abshere, OAESP Executive Director & William D. Parker, OASSP/OMLEA Executive Director
Every principal remembers the thrill and the anxiety involved in the start of a new school year. This year is no exception, especially with the added measures of re-opening during a pandemic. But stress and anxiety for school leaders is not a new phenomenon. Before the pandemic began shutting down schools, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and Learning Policy Institute (LPI) had been surveying principals across the nation on what trends were influencing principal turnover and sustainability. On May 14, 2020, they shared joint findings through the report Supporting a Strong, Stable Principal Workforce: What Matters and What Can Be Done. According to their findings, 42 percent of surveyed principals indicated they were considering leaving their position. The percentage of principals planning to move to a different school was higher for those in high-poverty schools and rural communities. After reviewing those findings, the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principals (OAESP), the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals (OASSP), and the Oklahoma Middle Level Education Association (OMLEA) shared a follow-up survey with Oklahoma principals with questions specific to Oklahoma principal sustainability called the CCOSA Principal Survey. The survey link was sent to Oklahoma principals via Constant Contact email service, and participants responded voluntarily. Among the 338 survey respondents to CCOSA’s Principal Survey, 213 (or 63%) were principals from rural communities, 96 (or 28%) were principals from suburban communities, and 29 (or 9%) were principals from urban communities.
Notable Results The purpose of the Oklahoma Principal Survey was to see how Oklahoma principals responded to some of the same questions in the national survey by NASSP and LPI. The national survey showed the following factors contributing to principal turnover: • Working Conditions • Compensation and Financial Obligations • High-Stakes Accountability Systems and Evaluation Practices • Lack of Decision-Making Authority Principals in the Oklahoma survey results shared concerns over working conditions, although slightly lower than the national survey. For instance, 44 percent of principals in the national survey and 33 percent of principals in the state survey agreed that his/her heavy workloads and job complexity are influencing them to leave the profession. In addition, 25 percent of national principals and 21 percent of statewide principals indicated considerations of leaving because of High Stakes Accountability requirements. Lack of DecisionMaking Authority ranked 16 percent nationally and 11 percent statewide as reasons for turnover. Takeaways for New Admins Serving as a principal is a hard job but also extremely rewarding. The data from both surveys show the need for supporting early career principals and ongoing professional development for veteran administrators. Additional research detailing the need for support of early career principals can be found among several other sources (Liang & Augstine-Shaw, 2016; Bravender & Staub, 2018; Syed, 2015; Spiro, Mattis, & Mitgang, 2007; Jones, 2003; Newcomb, 2011; Lashway, 2003; Healy & Welchert, 1990; Levin, Scott, Yang; and Leung & Bradley, 2020).
